In the beginning of this month, Dark Horse announced the Sakai Project, coming in July, the proceeds of which will benefit Usagi Yojimbo creator Stan Sakai and his family. In further news, Dark Horse announced CAPS – the Comic Art Professional Society – will launch an ongoing series of eBay auctions of original comic art to benefit the Sakai family.

From Dark Horse:

Southern California’s CAPS, the Comic Art Professional Society, will launch an ongoing series of eBay auctions of original comic art. Its goal is to raise funds for medical care for Sharon Sakai, the wife of respected cartoonist and longtime CAPS member Stan Sakai, creator of the samurai rabbit USAGIYOJIMBO. Sharon has been battling a debilitating brain tumor for some time; after an extended hospital stay and convalescence, she is currently at home, but her condition requires 24-hour care and medicine that costs more than the Sakai’s insurance covers. 100% of the proceeds of these auctions will go directly to Stan and Sharon Sakai to help pay their ongoing medical expenses.

The CAPS auctions will be conducted through eBay.com beginning on Thursday, March 6, with a new set of auctions every following Thursday. Each auction, sold under the seller name of “CAPSauction”, will be ten days in length with twenty to forty items in each set of auctions. The donations of original artwork and collectibles (including newly created art unique to this event, vintage comic book pages, comic strips, illustrations, animation art, limited edition statues, and IDW Artist’s editions books) number over three hundred with new items arriving every day.

Many of the pieces featuring Usagi Yojimbo will appear in a new oversized hardcover book from Dark Horse, THE SAKAI PROJECT: ARTISTS CELEBRATE THIRTY YEARS OF USAGI YOJIMBO, which will be released on July 23, 2014. All proceeds from this book will go to Stan and Sharon Sakai. Much of the custom Usagi Yojimbo art created for this book will also be sold as a part of CAPS’ online auctions.

These fund-raising auctions will be promoted through ComicArtFans.com, and the CAPS – COMIC ART PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY Facebook page where you will be able to see updated information such as when certain pieces will be auctioned.

This is an incredible opportunity to directly impact the life of someone who has given all of us in the comic community so much, whether you’re a creator, a reader, or both – please consider being a part of this!

About Author

Rosemary Kiladitis is a children’s librarian, a mom, and a proud fangirl/nerdgirl. She did her homework while watching reruns of the 1966 Batman series, which led to her longstanding relationship with the Bat, and she’s pretty sure that Barbara Gordon is the real reason she went to library school. She loves superheroes, supervillains, and is secretly married to Hellboy. Or Loki. She can’t remember, but it’s one of them. Roe blogs about children’s and teen books at http://roespot.blogspot.com, and you can read her 140 character ramblings on twitter @RoeSolo.